Md. cats rescued in 'Hoarders' need homes

Just got a very interesting email from a local cat advocate. Apparently cats rescued from a Westminster home during the taping of a recent episode of the show "Hoarders" need homes.

Here is the email I got from Jill Mehra, a volunteer with Metro Ferals. The Humane Society of the United States thought the readers of Unleashed might be able to help out with these cats. Mehra writes:

Basically, the A&E Network produces a show called Hoarders. They recently taped an episode in Westminster. The woman hoarded objects, but also had at least 10 cats. Four of the cats were dead and in various stages of decomposition. The survivors were removed from the house; one was adopted, but the other 5 need to find their forever homes.

I was alerted to this by the local professional organizer, Cheryl Osterhouse, who knows me and knows I am involved in rescue work. Four of the cats were brought to a local animal hospital until I was able to place them in a foster home through Metro Ferals. The hoarder brought at least one cat to the Humane Society of Carroll County before the show was taped. Through Tami, I found out about this cat and left my contact information in case they couldn't keep her. Sure enough, I got a call from them saying they were about to put Isis down until they saw my name and phone number. They thought she had ringworm and even though she is only 1 1/2 years old, she was almost euthanized. It turned out that she did not have ringworm, but was excessively licking herself from anxiety caused by being confined to a cage. She stayed with me for over a week until I found her a spot at a group foster home through the Howard County Cat Club.

I have been posting flyers and e-mailing people for weeks now, as I am acting as the middle person for both rescue groups. The cats are all on either petfinder, adoptapet or Facebook. Not one person has contacted me about them. The producers of the show, which aired Monday, Nov. 28th at 9PM (episode with Mikey), washed their hands of everything in the beginning, saying they couldn't give the cats publicity or help pay expenses. These wonderful cats are still in need of new homes.